Chinese teens experience ordinary life of students at La Porte High

By Don Maines

Published
3:48 pm CST, Saturday, March 10, 2018

La Porte High School student Christina Longoria gives a welcoming hug to her Nankai High School buddy, Li Xin, as the visitors get off the bus from the airport. At left is Christinaâs mother, Elizabeth Baker. At right are LPHS students Marlo Schatz and her buddy, Liu Changyu. The 24 Nankai High School students and their two teachers arrived in La Porte on Jan. 29. less

La Porte High School student Christina Longoria gives a welcoming hug to her Nankai High School buddy, Li Xin, as the visitors get off the bus from the airport. At left is Christinaâs mother, Elizabeth ... more

Image
1of/4

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 4

La Porte High School student Christina Longoria gives a welcoming hug to her Nankai High School buddy, Li Xin, as the visitors get off the bus from the airport. At left is Christinaâs mother, Elizabeth Baker. At right are LPHS students Marlo Schatz and her buddy, Liu Changyu. The 24 Nankai High School students and their two teachers arrived in La Porte on Jan. 29. less

La Porte High School student Christina Longoria gives a welcoming hug to her Nankai High School buddy, Li Xin, as the visitors get off the bus from the airport. At left is Christinaâs mother, Elizabeth ... more

Chinese teens experience ordinary life of students at La Porte High

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

Two dozen teenagers from Tianjin, China enjoyed a weeklong, whirlwind tour of the Houston area while staying in the homes of their La Porte High School "buddies" in the school's 10th global studies program to build bonds between the U.S. and China.

The Chinese students enjoyed "hanging out" with their American peers, said Kathy Ashworth, a school nurse whose family welcomed two Chinese students into their Shoreacres home Jan. 29-Feb. 4.

"This was our second time," said Ashworth, who works at Dr. Kirk Lewis Career and Technical High School in the Pasadena school district.

"The first year, we were advised not to plan a lot of activities, and to just involve the students in our regular routines. I didn't quite believe that," said Ashworth. "That year, we learned that the kids just want to see what our typical kids do.

"This year, we didn't stress about planning activities, and they were happy shooting baskets in the neighborhood park. We did take them bowling, which they loved."

The Nankai High School students arrived Jan. 29 at Houston Hobby Airport and then had their photo IDs taken at a welcome reception at La Porte High School, said district spokeswoman Terri Cook.

Then it was off to the homes of their buddies.

On Jan. 30, the students and their buddies attended classes and ate lunch before boarding a bus for Discovery Green in Houston. That night at the Toyota Center, they were wowed by James Harden, who scored 60 points, with 11 assists and 10 rebounds, to lead the Rockets past the Orlando Magic 114-107.

On Jan. 31, the Nankai students were treated to "Career Day" tours of area employers.

"Career Day is so unique and interesting," said 15-year-old Shuhe Ren, a visiting student. "We visited police departments, industrial manufacturing, medical/healthcare organizations and etc. We learn more in-depth about America and were so grateful that we have such an opportunity to see and learn far beyond of our imagination inside China."

Among the activities on Feb. 1 was a tour of the San Jacinto Monument and a performance of the La Porte High musical, "Guys and Dolls," whose cast included Noah Ashworth, 18, the school's salutatorian and a buddy to visiting Chinese students.

After a visit to NASA on Feb. 2, Noah Ashworth helped show the students around Rice University, where he is coached in pole vaulting.

At a farewell breakfast, Ren addressed the gathering by saying the program "is an eye-opening experience."

"Home-stay dads and moms treat us just like their own children and we are just like staying at our own homes," she said. "The students and teachers of La Porte are also super-friendly and warm-hearted. La Porte school has such a beautiful campus by the water and a rich variety both on academic and social-learning activities. We are so impressed with the practical skill and development and training here, that we realize how important it is to make the students equipped with well-rounded activities."

La Porte High's liaison for the Chinese program is Nancy Li, the president of the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association in Houston.

On Jan. 29, Li arranged for a group of 85 performers from Beijing to perform for James H. Baker Sixth Grade Campus students in the school district's multipurpose center.

"This goes along with the curriculum they study in sixth grade," said Cook.

In 2008, the La Porte Education Foundation made a three-year commitment to fund an exchange program through which 20 La Porte High students each year learned about China and then had the opportunity to visit Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an during a two-week period.

In 2014, the Foundation also sent three La Porte High students and three staff members to Tianjin for the 110th anniversary of Nankai High School and the International Science Conference hosted there.

Representatives from Nankai High School have visited La Porte every year since 2009.